January 09, 2008	Wednesday	Zilhaj 29, 1428

KARACHI, Jan 8: Tuesday turned out to be a frustrating day for both Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) at the National Stadium as the second day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship saw no action at all.

Heavy rain, which started an hour before play was scheduled to start at 10:00am, left parts of square damped, leaving the players clustered in the pavilion as umpires Salim Badar and Zamir Haider — sometimes accompanied by match referee Anwer Khan — conducted several inspections after the covers were removed in the afternoon.

But their rituals went in vain as the sun never showed up to dry out the wet patches which were created by water seeping underneath the weather beaten tarpaulins. Finally at 3:15pm, the umpires put everyone to rest by announcing that play had been abandoned for the day.

With more rain expected to hit Karachi, prospects of some action on Wednesday appear to be bleak.

SNGPL, who were scheduled to resume their first innings at 203 for four on Tuesday, will now have to wait, at least, until day three to restart their innings with Pakistan star Misbah-ul-Haq (42) and Khurram Shahzad (14) at the crease.

The Pakistan Cricket Board, in a wise move, has already sanctioned a reserve day for the final provided the issue still remained unsettled by then. Team succeeding in taking the first-innings lead will have the right to claim the trophy as well the winners’ hefty cheque of Rs1,000,000.

While SNGPL are participating in their maiden final, HBL had only once won the prestigious title, and that was as long ago as 1977-78.